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International Wreck Crew
The International Wreck Crew (or the Plunderbird boys, as they were simply known) were responsible for the creation of the series of Plunderbird robots that were entered into Robot Wars through Series 1 to 5, as well as Extreme 1. The Team The team were famous for their striking demeanour, although behind the tough talking and bravado, they were one of the more sporting teams in robotic combat, and tended to be more concerned about their image than their robot's performance, for example in Series 4, the team arrived with their robot, Plunderbird 4, in a Chinook helicopter. Despite their light-hearted attitude, the team were not entirely unsuccessful, being awarded the Best Design trophy in Series 1 for their robot Plunderbird 1 and receiving the Sportsmanship award in Series 2 for entertaining of the audience with their 'tough guy' attitude and their fearless aggression toward the House Robots. Plunderbird 2 also reached the Semi-Finals of the Second Wars, only just losing out to Haardvark in the Gauntlet stage. Besides the Plunderbird robots, Bryan Kilburn stated during an interview with the Robot Wars Magazine that he was working on a robot named Plunderbug One, an eight-legged walker. It is unknown how much progress was made on the project but it would have been a larger version of their Techno Games Battery Sprint entry Junior. In 2016, Mike Onslow joined 'Team. Ablaze' to collaborate on Dystopia, although the team did not qualify for the TV series. The name International Wreck Crew was a pun on International Rescue, the rescue organisation in the television show Thunderbirds, after which the robots are also named. Image The team were famous for their image, always being clad in khaki clothing, black shirts and sunglasses, which they admitted made it hard to see. The team fought two grudge matches during Extreme 1 with the Sir Chromalot and Mega Morg teams. The grudge with Sir Chromalot related to the teams' mutual entertainment value and a staged feud as to which was the better entertainers. Similarly, the battle with Mega Morg regarded which of the teams was the better singers, both having sung previously during the wars (see below). The fight with Mega Morg resulted in a victory for the Plunderbird team, while they lost against Sir Chromalot. Songs The International Wreck Crew even took the time to write various songs, writing and recording their own entrance theme (in Series 2), their own rap song (in Series 3) and then two other jingles in Series 4 and Extreme 1. Robots Plunderbird 1.png|Plunderbird 1 Plunderbird 2.jpg|Plunderbird 2 Plunderstorm.JPG|Plunderstorm Plunderbird4.jpg|Plunderbird 4 Plunderbird 5.jpg|Plunderbird 5 Plunderbird 5 WoI.png|Plunderbird 5 with a Union Jack in Extreme Warriors Season 1 Wins/Losses *UK Wins: 5 *UK Losses: 8 *US Wins: 0 *US Losses: 1 Series Record UK Series US Series Robot Wars Live Events The team's robots haven't fought in the recently rebranded Robot Wars Live Events, but team member Mike Onslow once made an appearance at the Robot Wars Live Event at Guildford 2016 where he got the audience singing along to the team's srimech song from the first series of Robot Wars Extreme. Outside Robot Wars Junior.jpg|Junior, the team's Sprint entry for Techno Games StealthStingray.jpg|Stealth Stingray, the team's Swimming entry for Techno Games Plunderbird 2011.png|Plunderbirds 2 and 4 (and Plunderbird 1's weapons pod) on display at the 2011 UK Championships The team also competed in the 2001 edition of Techno Games with a walking robot named '''Junior, which finished fourth overall in the Battery Powered Sprint. On Techno Games, the team went by the name The Smith Twins, and humorously denied having ever entered Robot Warshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c7A_t897Nw. The team originally intended to build a larger version of Junior for Robot Wars, but it was not finished. They returned, joined by "Miss Smith" ('played' by Vicki Allgood from Dartford Girls Grammar), the following year in the Swimming Competition with Stealth Stingray (a robot they claimed took 15 years to make), which lost its heat to Roboduck and Buoyant. After their Series 5 defeat, Mike Onslow and Bryan Kilburn retired from Robot Wars. However, Onslow and Kilburn continued to use Plunderbird 4 in live events (as Plunderbird 5 had been damaged beyond repair), with some degree of success, before later deciding to retire it for good. Since then, Onslow and Kilburn have brought the shells of their remaining Plunderbird machines for display purposes to certain robotic fighting events, most recently coming along to the 2011 UK Championships with Plunderbird 2 and 4, as well as the cutting disc weapon pod used on Plunderbird 1. In October 2018, Mike Onslow appeared on the Channel 5 series The Great Model Railway Challenge, collaborating with Laurie Calvert to built a model named Plungerbird, referencing the Plunderbird robots. In January 2019, Mike Onslow and Bryan Kilburn launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the editing and marketing of a mockumentary, Plunderbirds: Talk Robots, and the production of a physical DVD for the film. In the documentary, Onslow and Kilburn would (in character) explain the workings of a combat robot, and sales of the DVD intended to raise money for various charities. However, the Kickstarter campaign was unsuccessful, with £765 being pledged towards the campaign's £10,000 all-or-nothing goal, resulting in no funding being received from backers. Trivia *International Wreck Crew are one of five teams to win more than one award, the others being Team Mace, Team Nemesis, Team Razer and Team Steel Avenger (if the unseen Best Costume Award given to The Steel Avenger in Robot Wars Extreme 1 is included). *In an interview in Issue 1 of the original Robot Wars Magazine, a fourth member of the team is listed and pictured - Tim Scott, the Team Engineer. However, he never appeared on the televised show. *Mike Onslow was part of The Steering Committee. Honours References Category:Team Pages Category:Competitors in 5 Wars Category:Competitors in Techno Games Category:Members of the Steering Committee